Social Constructionism Essay

Improved Essays
Social constructionism is a term applied to theories that emphasize the socially created nature of social life. Of course, in one sense sociologists would argue this, so the term can easily become meaningless. Moreover, the importance to social constructionism is traced back at least to the works of William Isaac Thomas and the Chicago sociologists, furthermore the phenomenological sociologists and philosopher such as Alfred Schutz. Such approaches highlight the idea that term society is originally and savagely produced by human beings. They portray the world as made or invented—rather than merely given or taken for granted.
The social constructionism perspective states that we never know what universal true or false is, what is good or bad,
…show more content…
It points how knowledge is constructed and understood. Hence, an epistemological not an ontological perspective. Criticisms and difference of opinion arise when this central fact is misjudged. This is most evident in debates and criticisms surrounding realism and relativism. In the words of Kirk and Miller (1986) - search for a final, absolute truth should be left to philosophers and theologians. Social constructionism places major role on everyday communication between people and how they use language to put together their reality. It regards the social practices people take on in as the focus of enquiry. This is very similar to the core of grounded theory but without the stress on the language. Social constructionism that views society as presenting both as objective and subjective truth is well matched with the grounded theory, unlike constructionist grounded theory which takes a relativist position. Relativism is incompatible with classical grounded theory.
Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann's The Social Construction of Reality (1966) was the reason the term joined sociological vocabulary, which attempts an ground breaking synthesis of the ideas of Émile Durkheim and George Herbert Mead. according to Berger and Luckmann, the basic features of social order are captured in the principle that ‘Society is a human product. Society is an objective reality. Man is a social

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Alexandra Mederos Dr. Abdy SOC 201: Principles of Sociology 15 November 2015 Social Construction of Reality Conceptually, Berger’s book “Social Construction of Reality” is based on his belief that reality is socially constructed. He also believes that the sociology of knowledge must analyze the process in which this social construction occurs. The term social construction of reality refers to the theory of how we present ourselves to society based on our experiences and interactions with others. To completely understand the concept of “social construction of reality” we must first understand what knowledge and reality are.…

    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Within every society there are elements created by social construction. The theory of social construction refers how a society as a whole assigns meaning to objects and characteristics. For example, a cross is simply two lines intersecting until Christianity is assigned to it. These meanings hold no value without the existence of human societies and are not based on facts. The unique story of Henrietta Lacks and her immortal cells encompasses social construction when applied to race, which is accompanied by struggles with discrimination and authority.…

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Social theory involves ideas about the changes and developments within society. These ideas can be multidisciplinary ranging from anthropology to law. The Social theories involved are analytic structures or models used to examine social occurrences. It is during the 19th century that the three great classical theories of social and historical change became evident. The social cycle theory, the social evolutionism theory and the Marxist historical materialism theory.…

    • 1650 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Macro Client System

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Who is the macro client or system in this vignette and why? Macro client system- “The macro client system includes those people who will ultimately benefit from the change process, typically a particular client population having similar characteristics and receiving similar agency services. In addition, a macro client system can also be an entire community or agency that benefits from the change” (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2015, p.205-206).…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “Social Constructionism is a theory that explains how things happen. This is the social construction of reality, truth, and meaning that are products of an ongoing social process of experience, interpretation, and institutionalization” (Denton). The social world is not by any means given, natural or completely determined; it is created and conveyed people. Often times people’s interpretation and institutionalization are formed by others. Another person does not know another individual’s thinking/experience however, that person could influence how that individual perceives something.…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Human development refers to the procedure through which people normally develop and progress from early stages through adulthood. It means the development in totality such as physical, social, cultural, mental and emotional development. The distinctive parts of development and improvement that are measured include physical development, psychological development and social development. The field of human improvement contains numerous HYPOTHESES and their diverse thoughts regarding how kids improve and change as per time ( Berk, 2007). There are various assumptions which make understanding that youngsters’ improvements are a test.…

    • 1442 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Social theorists, writers and philosophers of almost every time period have examined the convoluted relationship between social relations and individuals including Karl Marx and Georg Simmel. While some have taken the approach that individuals are shaped by their social world, others insist that the social world itself is what shapes individuals. There are a few theories that exist with regards to the connection between individuals and society which will be discussed throughout this short essay in order to fully explain the relationship between individuals and society. Starting off with the conflict theory by Karl Marx, he was primarily focused on the structures of society. The conflict theory is one of the fundamental ideologies that explains social life as a battle between social groups for power and scarce resources.…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Durkheim was a positivist scientist and he argue that sociology rely on empirical evidences. Durkheim, argue that the laws of society are no different from laws of nature, and the method in which the society should be studied, is the same with the method of the natural sciences. As the nature has laws which are given to us, society has social objective structures which are external to and constraining upon the individual. These structures are the collective standards, the norms and the rules of behavior within the society. Durkheim called these rules as ‘social facts’.…

    • 1626 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Humans are complex beings and as a result there are several theories that sociologists have developed to describe why our social…

    • 1285 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1 The words ontology and epistemology seem like confusing and broad terms, however, an individual makes ontological assumptions and takes epistemological stances throughout their entire life, usually without realizing such. Ontology is "the study of being. It is concerned with 'what is ', with the nature of existence, with the structure of reality as such" (Crotty 1998). Our assumptions about the nature of being, create our epistemology which is defined as "the theory of knowledge embedded in the theoretical perspective and thereby in the methodology" (Crotty 1998).…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Physical spaces and the community where we live in play an integral part in shaping our personality. In my case I spend most of my life in India and I have lived in the United States for only 10 years. Through these years I have learned many things about the Indian culture and the United States culture. In India there were rules, regulations and restrictions that were unreasonable. For example, if you were a girl, you were not allowed to stay out of the house after 6.…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Power In Wag The Dog

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Wag the Dog, a political satire film, steps into a world where constructed and inter-subjective ideas are incredibly important. The film explores how ideas are constructed and how these ideas become reality through the acceptance by the masses and is an excellent demonstration of how identities, interests and institutions are inter-subjectively constructed. In the film, the president of the United States is up for re- election, however, a “Firefly” girl accuses him of sexual misconduct with just days before the election. In a desire to distract the media and the American public, a spin doctor and a famous Hollywood film producer set out to establish a lie that will detract the media and the American public from this scandal. They set out to…

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The realism and anti-realism debate is centred around whether something is real or not real. Stuart Brock and Edwin Mares (2014) try to grapple with the arguments of why something might be real or not real. They ultimately come to the conclusion that something is real if it both exists and is objectively mind independent. I accept this claim about whether or not something is real. A social constructivist takes an anti-realist stance.…

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sociological Perspectives

    • 394 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How do we understand the social world? This is one of the prominent questions in sociology that can be answered by sociological perspectives. Preceding the question is the definition of sociology along with briefly exploring its development throughout the 15th to 19th century to expound on the importance of its study. After defining and understanding sociological theories as the fundamentals of sociology, a scenario will be used to analyze and apply their principles. How sociology can contribute to individuals and society lies in determining the value and significance of sociological theory.…

    • 394 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Constructivist Classroom Scenario Essay If one were to see the word Constructivist and try to tear it apart, they may get lost in the word. First, they would see the verb construct. It is understood construct means to build. They may also see the adjective constructive.…

    • 1541 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays